DeathMatch!
by zsuzsi
Summary: SasukexNarutoxHinata Sasuke and Hinata decide they are both in love with Naruto, there are several misunderstandings
1. Default Chapter

Warning: This is a parody, and as such contains some drastically OOC behavior. If you don't like shounen-ai, don't complain to me.  
Etc. This doesn't belong to me.  
This takes place sometime in the future. Naruto is in his late teens. Just cross your fingers and hope everyone stays in Konoha. This whole fic is based around an idea of what the worst Naruto fight ever might possibly be ( close second was"Orochimaru vs. Konohamaru")  
  
Chapter 1- Wherein Hyuuga and Uchiha become rivals  
  
Uchiha Sasuke could swear he was going crazy. Life had been all right when he and Naruto had been just rivals. Life had been all right when he and Naruto were just friends. Life had been all right as long as he could look at Naruto from afar, always pretending not to be in love with him.  
Life was not all right when Naruto showed up to dinner with some girl on his arm, laughing about how the two of them had bumped into each other on his way to the Ichiraku.  
Sasuke had always told himself this day would come, but, in his heart of hearts, he had never quite believed that it really would. Sure, Naruto was wonderful, but it wasn't like just anybody would be able to see that. It would take somebody special – and Sasuke had always thought that he was the only one.  
Sasuke had always known that he might lose some day, but he had never thought that it would be to Hyuuga Hinata. Now that girl sat, blushing and twiddling her thumbs, while Naruto ordered his noodles and talked incessantly. Sakura, who made up the fourth at dinner, slide into the booth next to Sasuke and nudged him under the table.  
  
"They're so cute, aren't they?" She whispered. Sasuke gave her a look that would have intimidated Death.  
The old members of team seven always got together on Thursday nights at the Ichiraku. Hinata must have known that, Sasuke thought. She had planned on 'bumping into' Naruto. And, what right did she have to go interfering with their genin-team dinners, anyway? Sure, Ino or Shikamaru sometimes tagged alone, but that was different. No girl could possibly be as passive and weak as Hinata acted. That was some kind of a scam to trick Naruto into liking her. That was...  
With a start, Sasuke noticed that conversation at the table had ceased. Naruto, Sakura and Hinata were all watching him warily.  
"Is something wrong, Sasuke?" Sakura asked. "You seem sort of... uh... more intense than usual."  
"Yeah," Naruto added. "Why are you glaring at Hinata like that?"  
Sasuke looked away angrily. "Dobe," he said. "I wasn't."  
The dinner continued, but somehow the mood had been ruined. Anytime Hinata said anything at all Sasuke glared at her, and every attempt Sakura or Naruto made to start conversation ended up trickling off into uneasy silence. Though it was still early, the four of them decided to split up and call it a night.  
Sasuke was walking home when he felt a presence coming up behind him. When he turned, he was surprised to see that it was Hinata.  
"Naruto not walking you home?" He asked sarcastically.  
"Um, I told him he didn't need to," she answered. "Actually, Sasuke- kun, I wanted to talk to you."  
Sasuke waited impassively.  
"Well... ummm," she took a deep breath and plunged in. "I know you don't like me very much, but I've really liked Naruto for a long time... and I just wanted to know..." She paused. "Are we rivals?"  
Sasuke didn't answer for a moment. "No, no!" every fiber of his body was screaming. "Lie your head off!" But her honest question had caught him off-guard. Was it that obvious that he liked Naruto? Maybe everybody already knew anyway. Maybe he was wasting his big chance by refusing to admit his feelings.  
"Yeah," he said, then turned and walked away swiftly. Hinata made a motion as if to catch his arm, and then stopped. When he had made it almost to the end of the street, a thought struck her and she raced to catch up with him.  
"Are you going to fight for him?" She asked.  
A look of surprise came over Sasuke's face, followed by something else that Hinata couldn't quite recognize. Hope? Determination?  
"Yeah," he said. "I am. 


	2. Chapter 2

Author stuff - Thank you to everyone who was kind enough to review chapter one. I was happy because I am a fan of some of the reviewers myself. As for the ending, I haven't decided yet, so maybe I will write two of them... but please keep in mind that this is something of a parody, so the ending probably won't be very fluffy either way. (Plus I suck at fluff.)  
  
Chapter 2 – Wherein Hyuuga and Uchiha confess their love  
  
Surprisingly, it was Hinata's idea to confess. She didn't like the idea of getting into a prolonged grudge match with Uchiha Sasuke (She didn't like the idea of getting into a grudge match with anybody), and the best way of sorting out her feelings and Sasuke's feelings and Naruto's feelings as quickly as possible seemed to be just laying it all out on the table. Of course, the idea of being embarrassed or rejected was horrible, but who was she kidding? It was Naruto who had taught her how to have confidence and how to do what she needed to do. And, in a strange way, having to confess at the same time as Sasuke confessed made it a little more bearable. At least she wouldn't be the only one putting her emotions on the line.  
She found Sasuke training in the woods. He was destroying trees with his Chidori, and before approaching him she found herself watching for a few moments through the Byakugan. He was a genius; there was no doubt about that. Despite her years of intensive training, there was no way that Hinata could ever hope to control her chakra in the way that he did – even trying would probably result in burning off half her arm. She noticed that, as he became tired, the chirp of the chidori diminished as well. Even geniuses aren't perfect, she decided with a laugh, and with that though she felt brave enough to jump down into his field of vision.  
He ignored her for a few minutes before giving up.  
"What?" he asked.  
She backed away. Her idea had seemed good when she was still running through the trees, but faced with Sasuke in person it seemed difficult to suggest. It didn't help that Sasuke was seven inches taller than she was, well built and gorgeous where she thought of herself as short and frumpy. How can I compete with that? Her mind panicked.  
"Um," she said, "That is... uh..."  
He glared at her.  
"About what you said the other day," she said. "I was thinking, that is, I was wondering... I know you may not like me very much, but we have a lot in common... and you're Naruto's friend and I would really, really like for us to be friends too. Can we at least try to get along? For Naruto's sake?"  
Sasuke looked down at her for one long, cold moment. "No," he said.  
"But why not?"  
"Why not?" He looked down at her mockingly. "You know why not, Hinata."  
She sighed. "I do. But..." her voice died down and finally she burst out, "It isn't fair. Tell him how you feel."  
"You haven't confessed."  
"No. But... if you confess I will too. We'll do it at the same time."  
"Ask him to choose?" It was just asking for trouble, but Sasuke found himself liking the idea. Get his feelings for the dobe out there once and for all. "Fine." He said shortly, and walked away.  
  
And that was how the two of them found themselves outside Uzumaki Naruto's door, bright and early the next morning. Sasuke saw that Hinata had brought a basket full of freshly baked cookies, and he swore at himself for not having the idea himself. All he had was a package of instant ramen he'd thought to dig up after it hit him that bringing a gift might be a good idea.  
They looked each other over carefully. Hinata offered a handshake and Sasuke ignored it. She sighed.  
"Fine." She said. Sasuke reached for the doorbell, and just as his finger came down on it he realized that Hinata was doing the same thing. The bell rung once and they waited tensely.  
After a few minutes of no answer Sasuke rung it again.  
"Ah?" Naruto answered the door sleepily. He was wearing the most adorable sleeping cap Sasuke had ever seen.  
"What is it?" He rubbed his eyes. "Sasuke? Hinata?" The intensity in their eyes stunned him into silence.  
"Listen Naruto, can we come in?" Sasuke asked, just as Hinata blurted out,  
"Narutokun there's somethingI'vebeenwantingtotellyouforalongtime."  
Naruto looked at them blankly.  
"Sure," he said. "Come on in."  
"Um," Hinata said, "These are for you," she held out the basket carefully.  
"Gee, Hinata, thanks!" Naruto said. "What are they?"  
"Cookies..." she mumbled, as Sasuke pushed by her into the tiny apartment.  
"Dobe," he said, pushing the package of ramen on top of the basket.  
Naruto's eyes lit up. "Ramen!" He said. "Mind if I make this for breakfast?"  
"Sure," Sasuke smirked. He glanced over at Hinata, expecting to see her looking crushed – to his surprise, she was gave him an angry look instead.  
"Ah, so," Naruto said. "What's up, you guys?" He let them sit down on his tiny couch and went into the kitchen to heat water.  
  
Sasuke paused to take a deep breath, and he heard Hinata doing the same.  
"Actually," He said,  
"It's just that," she said,  
"We've both" "sort of" "not really, but" ""dobe" "so I wondered if" "liked a lot" "can't really help it" "so I thought" "for a long time" "anyway,"  
They looked up at him.  
"What do you think?"  
"Huh?" Naruto answered. "I think that's... ummmm... great. Really."  
"Were you even listening? Dobe?" Sasuke felt ready to punch him in frustration.  
"Yeah. But you know, you don't need my permission to go out with each other."  
They looked at him blankly. Hinata let out a surprised cough and Sasuke felt his normally pale face flushing. Meanwhile Naruto was surprised enough that he had begun to babble.  
"It's not what I expected, you know?" he said, " I guess opposites really do attract." Looking at Sasuke's angry face he began to back away. "Umm... that is, not that you guys are opposites or anything..."  
"No," Sasuke said, "That's not it. We like you."  
"Yeah, I can tell. I mean, coming all the way out here on a Sunday morning, just to tell me about your relationship. I'm... really flattered."  
  
"We. Both. Like. You." Sasuke heard Hinata say, with more strength than he ever thought she could muster, "Romantically."  
"Uh." Naruto said, "ummm..... ok... but... ummm...." He bowed frantically. "I can't return your feelings!" he screamed, and ran out the door.  
Sasuke threw himself back on the couch. Next to him, Hinata was on the verge of tears. "Well, he said, more to himself than to her, "that didn't go well." 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Wherein Naruto asks Kakashi for advice  
  
Kakashi had just found a nice tree to read beneath. The sun was shining, the birds were making little bird noises, and since he had summarily failed his latest group of genin, there was nothing he needed to get done for the next several days at least. All was right with the world. "Kakashi sensei.... Ummm... Kakashi sensei..." Kakashi looked up from his novel with a start. "Naruto-kun!" He said, "What an unexpected surprise. What are you doing here?"  
"Actually," the blond hair boy blurted out embarrassedly, "I kind of need your advice."  
"What is it?"  
"Ummm..." he said, bending forward and lowering his voice to a whisper, "It's kind of personal."  
Under his mask, Kakashi seemed to smile compassionately. "There, there," he said, patting the moss beside him. "Sit down and tell your Uncle Kakashi all about it."  
Hurriedly Naruto slid to the ground. "Thanks." He said. "It's just that... this is the kind of thing I don't think I can really say to Iruka sensei. And telling the Pervert Sennin..." he shuddered and looked at Kakashi dubiously. "That pretty much leaves you."  
Kakashi bent forward. "What is it?"  
"Ok... what if... two of your oldest friends suddenly told you they were dating."  
Kakashi leaned back against the trunk, disappointed. "That's it?"  
"No!" Naruto snapped. "That's not it!"  
"Ok, then, go on."  
"Ok. So, what if, after you found out these friends were dating, they asked you too..."  
"What?"  
"do something romantic with them."  
Kakashi almost chocked on his mask. "What kind of something romantic?" He asked.  
"I don't know! I left before I had a chance to find out!"  
Kakashi stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Must be a threesome," he decided.  
Naruto buried his head in his hands and groaned.  
"But who would want to have a threesome with you?" Kakashi asked.  
Naruto only groaned again. "Let me try and guess," Kakashi said helpfully. He thought for a moment. "Sasuke and Sakura?" He didn't really think the two of them were going out, and the idea of Sakura even considering, much less agreeing to a threesome with Naruto seemed far fetched, but then no one else was coming to mind. Besides, Kakashi wasn't blind. He had seen the way Sasuke had been watching Naruto for a long time... somehow, he considered, he must have talked Sakura into it. Maybe the pink-haired girl had a hidden kinky side. Mentally, he weighed the options.  
Naruto blushed. "No. Sasuke..." he said "... and Hinata,"  
"Hyuuga Hinata?" Kakashi said. The blond nodded furiously.  
"That," Kakashi said, "Is something I never thought of. It's always the quiet ones, isn't it?"  
Naruto looked blank.  
"Ok," Kakashi said. "So may I assume from your reaction to all this that you're not interested?"  
Naruto turned an even deeper shade of red. "No!" He yelled. "I mean, how freaky would that be?" He buried his head even lower. "There's another problem too."  
"Hmm?"  
"I was sort of interested ... well, not anymore. But, before the whole them-becoming-a-couple thing..." he stopped. "You like Sasuke?" Kakashi asked. Naruto glared at him.  
"You like Hinata?"  
Naruto sighed. "I like neither," he said defensively. "Forget I even  
tried to talk to you."  
"Now, now," Kakashi said. "Don't say that. I have great experience  
with romantic entanglements. Let me think about it." He closed his  
eye meditatively. Naruto waited, expectant.  
"Nope," Kakashi said, cheerfully, "Nothing. I need more time. I'll think about it and get back to you, ok?"  
Naruto sighed.  
  
Sasuke and Hinata glared at each other. They had left Naruto's home, and all Sasuke wanted to do was head back to his apartment and then train until he fell down dead. Apparently, Hinata had the same idea. Unfortunately, the Hyuuga and the Uchiha estates were in the same part of town.  
He had been watching Hinata for some time – it was clear she had something she wanted to say to him, and that she had been building up the courage to say it for some time. Finally she spoke.  
"Sasuke-kun," she said.  
Oh damn, Sasuke thought. He had been hoping the road would split before she got up the nerve.  
"It looks like Naruto-kun doesn't like either of us, does it?" She asked quietly.  
He didn't think that required a reply.  
"Are you... uh... going to give up?"  
He looked at her. "No. Are you?"  
"No." She said, surprisingly firm.  
They walked a while longer.  
"What's the next step?" She asked, hesitantly.  
Sasuke turned to her with a confident smirk. "What's your next step? I have no idea." They had finally reached the corner where the road split. "From here on out, you're on your own."  
  
So Sasuke said, but actually he had no idea what to do, either. Confessing, he had thought, would be the hard part, but given Naruto's reaction to his confession he wondered if he would even be able to salvage a fraction of their former friendship. Why had Naruto freaked out so much, anyway? Presumably it was because Sasuke was a guy, and Naruto couldn't handle having a guy like him. But Naruto had always seemed pretty tolerant of homosexuality in the past – maybe, Sasuke thought with a surge of irrational hope, Naruto freaked out because Sasuke's confession was hitting a little too close to home.  
The best thing for the moment was to get it all out of his head. Sasuke wondered if he might be able to track down Kakashi for an impromptu training session. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Wherein two people give horrible advice  
  
Kakashi was so happy that he could hardly contain himself. If there was one thing he loved, it was Come Come Paradise. And, if there was another thing he loved, it was teasing his dear students. Sakura and Naruto were fairly easy to tease, but Sasuke required a bit more work. Today, however, Kakashi had managed to get a hold of some information that he was sure would drive Sasuke nuts.  
Just his luck that Sasuke was looking for a little bit of extra training anyway. Kakashi could say that this fell into the category of mental endurance.  
First he tried a couple of subtle comments about Hyuuga Hinata – personality, looks, possible bedroom behavior. Sasuke was the sort of serious character who was sure to become upset when his girlfriend was being slandered.  
But instead of the fun he was expecting, all Kakashi got were a few blank looks and what-kind-of-idiot-am-I-dealing-with-today stare from Sasuke. Once or twice Sasuke even smirked a little, as if he agreed with Kakashi.  
The Copy-Ninja decided to change tactics.  
"So, how's it going with you and Naruto?" He asked. That was enough to stop Sasuke in his tracks. The black-haired boy looked at him suspiciously.  
"Fine," he said.  
"Ah," said Kakashi. "And, how do he and Hinata get along?"  
This earned an extra-hard kick against the broken stump Sasuke was aiming against.  
"Fine," he said.  
"Ah," said Kakashi, in a considerate tone of voice. "Sometimes it's hard, when your old best friend and your new girlfriend don't see eye-to- eye..." he stopped when he realized that Sasuke was looking at him in total bewilderment. "Aren't you and Hinata-chan dating?"  
"Where did you hear that?"  
"Ah – a little bird told me."  
Sasuke turned to kick the stump again, so hard a sizable chunk of wood flew off into the trees.  
"Who would say that?" he asked. "What else did they tell you?"  
"Oh – nothing much. But Sasuke-kun, if I were you..."  
Sasuke waited.  
"You can't have your cake and eat it too, if you know what I mean."  
"No," said Sasuke, as he began a fresh assault on a new tree, "I don't."  
  
Kakashi walked toward the schoolyard with a spring in his step. Something was going on here, he thought, he just hadn't figured out quite what yet. It was true that he liked to tease his students. And, he had tried to help Naruto, a little. But the best solution was just to let the three of them work it out for themselves – and sit laughing in the background while they did it. Kakashi knew that Naruto often spent his afternoons goofing around behind the school with the new genins, and he was hoping to find him there.  
Sure enough, Naruto was in the process of showing his sexy-no-jutsu to Konohamaru and some of the other recent graduates whom Kakashi didn't recognize. When the play let up for a moment he waved to get Naruto's attention and motioned him over.  
"I thought about your problem," he said, "and I spoke to Sasuke, but..."  
"You did what?" Naruto yelled.  
"Talked to Sasuke. But I don't think he quite got my message. Anyway..."  
"I can't believe you did that!" Naruto said. He walked in a small circle, trying to think. "He must be angry that I told you... it was private, too..."  
"Don't worry," Kakashi said, "I only spoke to him in the most general terms. And only about he and Hinata-chan dating, not about," he coughed, "the rest of it."  
Naruto sighed. "Well, that's better, I guess. Anyway, have you thought of a solution?"  
Kakashi beamed. "No." He said. "It's your problem." "What?" "Sorry." The copy ninja shrugged cheerfully. "Think of it as one of the glorious trials of springtime, that will help you to grow into a better man..." Naruto sighed. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "Stop hanging around Gai-sensei so much."  
  
"What was that about?" Konohamaru asked carefully, coming up on Naruto as Kakashi left. He had never seen Naruto-niisan looking so distracted before. "Ah, nothing," Naruto said. "Hey, Konohamaru?" "Yeah?" "Have you ever had a girl you liked?" Konohamaru blushed a little. "Yeah." "And what if that girl went and ended up with somebody else?" "Huh?" It didn't take too long before Naruto had spilled his story again, leaving out Kakashi's theory about the threesome. This time, however, his listener had some practical advice.  
  
"Fight." Konohamaru told him.  
  
"What?"  
"Well..." the boy leaned in conspiratorially, "You said that you liked one of them too, right?"  
Naruto squinted at him. "So?"  
"It must be Hinata-san, right? If you like Hinata, go tell her. The whole way they went to you first thing to tell you they were dating sounds weird. It's like maybe she was hoping you'd be jealous."  
"I don't know," Naruto said.  
"Trust me," Konohamaru said cockily. "Girls do stuff like that all the time. Plus, won't you regret it if they end up married or something?"  
Naruto sighed.  
"Or," Konohamaru said, warming up to his topic, "If you don't want to confess, you could try going to Sasuke and challenging him."  
"What?" Naruto asked. "Why?"  
"It's like confessing but less direct. Tell him he's not good enough for Hinata-san. It doesn't matter if you win or lose – if you win and they break up, she really didn't like him that much in the first place. Even if you lose," Konohamaru winked. "She might be happy you fought for her."  
"Yeah," Naruto said, thinking back to the chuunin exams many years before. He and Hinata had become friends after that incident. "Konohamaru, you're pretty smart for a thirteen-year old."  
Konohamaru smiled proudly. 


	5. Chapter 5

Ok, this is the final chapter... Thank you to everyone who reviewed, especially Wormkaizer who reviewed every chapter! Even though people seemed to be in favor of Naruto and Hinata this ended up going the other way... so I feel apologetic... I hadn't planned the ending in advance but since I am always rooting for Hinata to stick up for herself, when I finally arrived there this felt most natural to me.  
  
Chapter 5 – Wherein Naruto suggests the Hyuuga-Uchiha death match and Uchiha and Hyuuga Fight (Not to the Death)  
  
Hinata had become a medical shinobi after the time that her father changed his legal heir from herself to Hanabi, her younger sister. The change agreed with her. She enjoyed the quiet work of making medicines from herbs and minerals, and she liked being able to ease the pain of people who came to her with all kinds of illnesses and injuries. Most of all, becoming a medical-nin had given her a sense of usefulness and purpose that she had lacked when younger.  
She was very surprised to find Uchiha Sasuke at the door of the clinic where she worked, since his last comment to her had been something about her being on her own. She wondered for a moment if he might be ill, but he leaned against the doorframe and waited for her as she finished her tidying-up.  
"Do you know any reason?" He said, "Why Kakashi-sensei might think that we are dating?"  
"No," she said. "How could he?" There really wasn't any reason to think it – the two of them hadn't spent much more time together than usual, and very little of it had been alone. Even if someone did happen to seem the two of them together, there was nothing about their behavior that would give the wrong impression.  
"Huh." Sasuke grimaced. "And yet, today he made it sound like the rumor was circulating everywhere."  
"Oh," Hinata said. "Um... do you think that maybe..."  
He looked at her.  
"Could that have been why Naruto-kun got the wrong impression?"  
"Yeah," Sasuke said slowly, "maybe."  
  
Before they had a chance to work this out they heard someone coming toward the clinic.  
"Naruto!" Hinata exclaimed. The blond haired boy looked as though he had been running hard to get there. When he saw that Hinata and Sasuke were together, he drew in his breath sharply and pointed and angry finger.  
"If you two are really in love!" He said, "Fight and prove it!"  
"Fight?" Hinata said, in disbelief.  
"Yeah. A week from today, at sunset, in the forest behind the academy. I'll be waiting." His nerves failed him and he left, slamming the door behind him.  
"Was he talking to me, or you?" Hinata asked, wonderingly.  
"He was talking to both of us," Sasuke said. "Whoever wins, gets Naruto. Right?" He looked at her challengingly.  
"Are you going to give up?"  
Hinata's hands were shaking. How could Naruto-kun do this to her? Asking her to face Sasuke in a fight was liking having to face Neji in the chuunin exams all over again, only a hundred times worse. There was no way for her to win- Naruto must know that. And yet, he was asking her to fight anyway – clearly, she thought, he loved Sasuke and wanted her to lose.  
Even as her spirits fell, she thought of all the times when Naruto himself had fought against insurmountably odds. Maybe, she thought, maybe he is doing this for a reason. Maybe he wants me to show how serious I am.  
"No," she said. Her voice was low but steady. "I won't give up."  
  
Sasuke was in a good mood. Naruto could have placed him and Hinata in any kind of a contest, but a physical match was clearly in Sasuke's favor.  
He wants me to win, Sasuke thought – but then, why the match at all? Something to do with Naruto's psychology, he thought. Maybe Naruto needed time to come to terms with a homosexual relationship, and maybe somehow making this a contest between Hinata and Sasuke let him do that. It really didn't matter, Sasuke was happy to oblige. The only problem was, how to defeat a five-foot one, ninety-four pound girl without looking like a completely terribly person.  
  
"Pervert-Sennin... oi! Pervert-sennin!"  
It was not the most pleasant way to be woken up in the morning –even if it was no longer morning, and you were actually being woken up from a beating-induced blackout rather than a peaceful night sleep.  
In other words: Jiraya had been caught outside the woman's bath – again – and the young ladies who found him there had beaten him within an inch of his life.  
Then he got to wake up to the whiskered face of Naruto, two inches in front of him.  
"What... in the world... is it?" He tried to yell, but his throat was dry and it came out in a cracked whisper instead.  
"Pervert-sennin.... I need you to help train me!"  
"Train you? What?"  
"I have a very important match."  
Jiraya rubbed his head. "Against who?" He asked finally.  
"Hyuuga Hinata."  
"Hyuuga... Hinata?" Jiraya tried to think. The small, angry, powerful girl who had threatened to put his eyes out after she caught him... no, wait, that was the younger Hyuuga, Hanabi. Her sister Hinata was older, and Jiraya realized that he didn't know much about her."  
"Is she strong?" he asked sleepily.  
"No," Naruto wailed, "That's the problem."  
Jiraya's back cracked as he sat up. "Why is that a problem?"  
"Because Konohamaru said... so, I wasn't thinking, and I challenged her to a fight. And it's actually a really, truly, horrible idea, because even though she's a Hyuuga she's not that strong and if I fight a girl like that then I'm going to look like a horrible person and then Sasuke will never want to go out with me."  
Jiraya thought he might have misheard the last part, but when Naruto repeated everything more slowly to him he realized that in fact he had got it right.  
"Call off the fight," he said.  
"I can't do that now. Come on, teach me some kind of... ummm... put people to sleep quickly with no pain technique."  
"Maboroshi-no-jutsu."  
"That a Hyuuga isn't going to be able to see through."  
Jiraya paused for a moment. "That might be harder." He said, finally.  
  
Hinata took the week off from the clinic. Her first thought was to ask Hanabi for help, but since her sister was out on a mission, she turned to Neji instead.  
"You want to do what?" he asked her.  
"Umm... help me defeat... Uchiha Sasuke." Her voiced tricked off to a whisper by the end.  
"You're wasting my time." He said flatly.  
"Yes... I know... but, cousin Neji, I have to try."  
  
The morning of the match dawned bright and clear, but by sunset the sky had turned dark and it was threatening to rain. Nevertheless various townspeople, informed of the match mostly through Jiraya, brought blankets and umbrellas into the forest, lining up around the small clearing where Hinata and Sasuke waited, refusing to look at each other.  
The sun had not quite set, and Naruto was nowhere to be seen, but the jeers of the townspeople were starting to get to both of them. Several times various classmates had come out and told them to stop being ridiculous – the last being Shikamaru – and even Sasuke was starting to look a little on edge.  
"Let's just do this," he said, through gritted teeth, and Hinata agreed.  
She and Neji had put all their energy into one potential attack which they thought Hinata might – might- be able to use on the Uchiha if- if – there was a lucky opening. Much against his better judgment, Neji had promised to try and provide this opening, by throwing a couple of kunai in from the sidelines. All this was really likely to do was get him in trouble with Uchiha later, but he figured that it was the least he could do for his cousin.  
The rain broke with a loud clap of thunder as both rushed against each other. Hinata could tell- even as she feinted and dodged – that Sasuke wasn't really moving at more than half his usual speed, and that most of his attacks weren't even intended to really hit. Fine, she thought, so he's trying to go easy on me. At least that gave her the opening.  
He threw one sudden punch at high speed that she recognized as being aimed to knock her out – by the time she noticed it she was only about to shift slightly, and it connected just below her collarbone. The crowd booed.  
"What are you guys doing?" Came a shocked voice from the sidelines. They both looked up as Naruto, soaked with rain, came to stand in front of them.  
"Naruto-kun?" Hinata said, a little uncertainly.  
"Dobe," Sasuke said. "This is all your fault. Why are all these people here?"  
Naruto looked confused. "I don't know. I didn't tell them."  
"This is humiliating."  
"Anyway," Naruto asked. "Why are you fighting?"  
"You said," Sasuke muttered, trying to speak softly enough that the crowd could not here them, "That you would go out with whoever won."  
"I said," Naruto interrupted, "That I like you, and that I'd fight Hinata to go out with you."  
Hinata heard both of them with no emotion at all, as if she'd stepped outside of her own body. So it was true – Sasuke liked Naruto, and Naruto liked him back. She watched as they came together in the pouring rain, almost falling into each other's arms.  
Then they both looked at her, Naruto a little apologetically. He broke away from Sasuke and extended his hands out to her.  
"Hinata-chan," he said, "I'm really sorry about all this."  
She felt some emotion deep in her gut. Disappointment turned to sharp anger as she thought of all the times she had simply hidden her true feelings, smiled, and let people who were supposed to be her friends walk all over her. The anger grew, quickly becoming larger and larger until all she could see at all was fiery red.  
She could see Sasuke, smirking just over Naruto's shoulder. Then some noise in the crowd caught his attention, and he looked away.  
  
Neji saw his opportunity, and threw in the kunai.  
  
The End  
  
To this day in Konoha people talk about the fight in which the least- regarded member of the Hyuuga family decisively defeated not only Uzumaki Naruto, the vessel of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, but also Uchiha Sasuke, the last remaining member of the genius Uchiha clan. Hyuuga Hinata was asked by her father to become the Hyuuga heir once again, but instead of doing this she told him to bugger off and then decided that she was always much happier as a medical nin anyway. Eventually she married her cousin Neji. Inbreeding is usually a bad thing, but in the case of Ninjas with special abilities it tends to enhance those abilities... in other words, Hinata and Neji had lots of children with an enhanced Byakugan (Sharingan) and managed to take over the task of repopulating the Uchiha clan for Sasuke. Which is really a good thing because Sasuke was off somewhere with Naruto and there's no mpreg in this fic. (Though mpreg is only slightly more unrealistic then Hinata and Neji ending up together. You rock, Hinata! We love you!) 


End file.
